Anarchism and Political Theory: Contemporary Problems

Anarchism and Political Theory: Contemporary Problems Uri Gordon 2007 Contents Abstract ............................................ 5 Acknowledgements ..................................... 5 Introduction 7 Contemporary Anarchism: A first look .......................... 8 Two Agendas ......................................... 10 Between Philosophy and Participatory Research ..................... 12 Discussion .......................................... 19 Part I. Explaining Anarchism 25 Chapter 1: What Moves the Movement? 26 Anarchism as a Political Culture .............................. 26 The A-word .......................................... 27 From Networks to Political Culture ............................ 30 Forms of organisation ................................. 34 Campaigning and direct action repertoires ..................... 35 Discursive aspects ................................... 36 Broader cultural attributes .............................. 37 The Role of Identity ..................................... 38 Old-school and New-school ................................. 42 Chapter 2: Threads of Resistance 45 Tracing the Genealogy of Contemporary Anarchism ................... 45 Defeat and Stagnation .................................... 46 An Haphazard Rebirth .................................... 48 An International Movement ................................. 51 Chapter 3: What Anarchists Want 55 The Logic of Anti-Authoritarian Political Language .................... 55 Struggle Against Domination ................................ 55 Prefigurative politics ..................................... 58 Open — Ended Politics .................................... 65 2 Part II: Anarchist Anxieties 71 Chapter 4: Power and Equality 72 Leadership and Power in Anarchist Organising, Part One . 72 “But we don’t have leaders…” ................................ 73 From Leadership to Power ................................. 76 Power-over as Domination .............................. 77 Power-to and Power as Influence ........................... 81 Power-with or power-among ............................. 84 Equality and “Activist Resources” ............................. 84 Chapter 5: Power, Invisibility and Solidarity 91 Leadership and Power in Anarchist Organising, Part Two . 91 Decentralisation ....................................... 92 Between Enforcement and Coercion ............................ 93 Anarchism and Democracy ................................. 95 The Tyranny of Structurelessness Reconsidered ...................... 97 Accountability ........................................ 101 The Forum and the Campfire ................................ 103 Power and Solidarity ..................................... 106 Chapter 6: Beyond “Diversity of Tactics” 111 Re-assessing the Anarchist Debate on Violence . 111 Contextualising the Present Debate ............................ 111 Messy Definitions ...................................... 117 Limits to Justification .................................... 124 Empowerment, Revenge and Armed Struggle . 128 Chapter 7: Luddites and Hackers 133 Defining a Broad-Based Anarchist Politics of Technology . 133 Anarchists and Technology ................................. 134 Domination and the Technological Complex . 136 Anarchist Concerns ..................................... 140 The Case of Nanotechnology ................................ 145 Actualising the Critique ................................... 147 Luddism ........................................ 148 Hacking, Cracking and E-Piracy . 149 Reviving Creativity, Lo-Tech ............................. 153 Chapter 8: Unholy Land 156 Anarchism, Nationalism and Israeli-Palestinian Peace . 156 Anarchism and Nationalism ................................. 156 “Supporting” Statehood? .................................. 160 Three Threads of Intervention ............................... 162 Linking Issues ..................................... 163 3 Non-violent Direct Action .............................. 164 Grassroots Peace-making ............................... 168 Conclusion 172 References 175 4 For my parents, Shifra and Ze’ev and in memory of Yosef Gordon (1920–2005) Abstract This thesis explores contemporary anarchism, in its re-emergence as a social movement and political theory over the past decade. The methodology used combines participatory research and philosophical argumentation. The first part, “Explaining Anarchism”, argues that it should be addressed primarily asapolit- ical culture, with distinct forms of organisation, campaigning and direct action repertoires, and political discourse and ideology. Largely discontinuous with the historical workers’ and peasants’ anarchist movement, contemporary anarchism has come together in the intersection of radical direct-action movements in the North since the 1960s: feminism, ecology and resistance to nu- clear energy and weapons, war and neoliberal globalisation. Anarchist ideological discourse is analysed with attention to key concepts such as “domination” and “prefigurative politics”, with attention to the avowedly open-ended, experimental nature of the anarchist project. The second part, “Anarchist Anxieties”, is a set of theoretical interventions in four majortop- ics of controversy in anarchism. Leadership in anarchist politics is addressed through sustained attention to the concept of power, proposing an agenda for equalising access to influence among activists, and an “ethic of solidarity” around the wielding of non-coercive power. Violence is approached through a recipient-based definition of the concept, exploring the limits of anyat- tempt to justify violence and offering observations on violent empowerment, revenge and armed struggle. Technology is subject to a strong anarchist critique, which stresses its inherently social nature, leading to the exploration of Luddism, the disillusioned use of ICTs, and the promotion of lo-tech, sustainable human-nature interfaces as strategical directions for an anarchist politics of technology. Finally, questions of nationalism are approached through the lens of the Israeli- Palestinian conflict, addressing anarchist dilemmas around statehood, and exploring approaches to “national conflicts” that link multiple forms of oppression and that employ a direct action approach to peacemaking. Acknowledgements My first and foremost debt is to my supervisor, Michael Freeden, without whose support and guidance this thesis would have never been possible. In his patient yet uncompromising way, Michael has provided a great deal of perspective, insight and criticism which were invaluable throughout my work. David Miller and Elizabeth Frazer read drafts of four of the chapters in this dissertation and offered important suggestions. Katherine Morris, my college advisor, was also of great helpand support during the difficult and anxious process of writing. So many individual comrades and colleagues have contributed to this thesis without reading my written work that I could never mention some without doing injustice to others. If you, reader, have ever exchanged ideas with me in conversation, then something of the following pages is yours, as is my heartfelt thanks. During research for this thesis I have enjoyed the hospitality of several infospaces and col- lective houses, whose living example of “anarchy in action” will always be remembered: Can 5 Masdeu (Barcelona), Centre Autonome (Lausanne), Cecco Rivolta (Firenze), CIA (Amsterdam), Equinox (Manchester) Eurodusnie (Leiden), Forte Prenestino (Roma), Les Naus (Barcelona), Les Tanneries (Dijon), Le Tour (Geneve), Ragman’s Lane (Wye Valley) Salon Mazal (Tel Aviv) and Talamh (Lanarkshire). Finally, my parents, Ze’ev and Shifra, my sisters, Noa and If’at, and my partner, Lucy Michaels, have been there for me throughout, to offer their unconditional support. It is to them that Iam ultimately indebted. 6 Introduction Stirling, Scotland — July 6 2005 — 4AM. From the temporary “Hori-Zone” eco-village, where anti-G8 activists have been camping for the past week, a mass exodus is in progress. In small groups, thousands of people trek through fields and hills, making their way to the M9 motorway. It is still dark when scores of men in black riot gear emerge out of police vans to surround the eco- village, but most of its inhabitants have already made it to the tarmac — now dragging branches and bricks onto the road or staging mass sitdowns. The intention: to block delegates, staff and workers from arriving at the prestigious Gleneagles hotel, the G8 summit venue. Meanwhile, emerging from within the camp, a remaining five hundred protesters begin pushing their way through one police line after another, on their way to the motorway. Some use a “battering ram” made of large inflated tyre-liners. Others convince lines of riot police to retreat by pelting stones at their large transparent plastic shields. As reinforcements rush to the scene, the celebratory defacement of corporate retail outlets quickly ends in favour of a rush to the motorway. Then news arrives that the railway approach to Gleneagles has been disabled — the tracks raised off the ground with a compressor, tyres set aflame as warning. Meanwhile on the M9, police remove one group of protesters from the motorway, only to have another group blockade it a few hundred metres down. At that point, all access roads to Gleneagles from the north and southeast are simultaneously blockaded by six affinity groups, targeting the most obvious pressure-points for transport. There is no exit from Perth

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